Home Sweet Home

Wow, what a journey I’ve had.

Finally, it was the weekend I had been waiting for even before I left for my stay in Germany. The nights and days leading up to that weekend, I was incredibly anxious. Sitting still was nearly impossible, I had the constant urge to dance around happily but also cry because it’s sad that its all over.

Goodbyes are hard, no matter how much--or little--you know a person. Saying goodbye to people at the stable and to the family I was staying with was hard. I’m always terrible at them. I never know the right things to say and when to say them. I really hope to come back and visit all these wonderful people someday.

Jill picked me up on Friday to take me touring Holland. It was a blast--short but sweet. It started out in the most hilarious way, too. We stopped for gas before we hit the road. Jill and Dave had a rental car. Jill and I went to get some coffee and to go to the bathroom while Dave filled up gas. While we got our coffees and paid, Dave paid also and left. We walked out of the gas station building and towards the fuel pump Dave was at. We were talking about something and were a bit distracted. I opened up the car door and sat down in the back seat, already fumbling for the seatbelt. Jill was looking for a cup holder for her coffee and noticed that there were two when there was only one in the rental car. Suddenly a voice in a German accent said “SORRY?!” Jill and I were shocked as we saw the driver was in fact not Dave and ran out of the car, laughing, and we found the real Dave sitting in the real car shaking his head. Only Jill and I would do something so stupid but hilarious as that. Whatever nice thoughts that man had about Americans are probably gone now!

We drove through the beautiful Netherlands countryside and eventually found ourselves  at an amazingly delicious pannekoekenhuis. Pannekoekens are a bit like crepés except Dutch and better. You can put anything you want on them and they are awesome.

After, we drove to Jill’s friend’s house, where we stayed the night. In the morning we got up early and went onto the extremely crowded train to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam was not what I was expecting. I have seen so many beautiful pictures of the city and thought that it would be picturesque around every corner, which wasn’t necessarily the case. Amsterdam's center is very beautiful, with many tall, old houses and the canals were wonderful to ride the boat on, but the center of Amsterdam is somewhat smaller than I imagined. Then again, I was only there for one day and didn’t get to see the whole city. But I think you might get my point.

Anyway, I had the opportunity to go to the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank Huis. Both were awesome. The Van Gogh Museum really captures the timeline of Van Gogh’s life by showing his paintings in chronological order. The Anne Frank Huis was something, too, but I was expecting it to be less of a museum. It was cool to see the things I had read and studied about in grade school but walking through the house, it no longer looked like a house to me. I had difficulty imagining anyone living there. Another misconception I had was that the place they lived in was small and cramped, but in fact is wasn’t nearly as claustrophobic as I had imagined. I suppose that is because in the plays and books I had read about Anne Frank and her family, it was described that way. Don’t get me wrong, living like they did for so long must have been very hard. But for whatever reason, I thought it was cramped living on top of everything else. 

Later, we ate dinner at a really nice café. Jill and I had great cream of tomato soup and a lecker vegetarian pie.

Then it was time to look for a train to head back home. We found one, sat down, and thought we’d have a normal train ride. Boy, were we wrong.

It started out because Jill and I were chatting in English about horses (naturally). There was a guy sitting alone on the other side of the car. He struck up a conversation by asking us where we were from, and we told him. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then we asked him where he was from and he answered southern Turkey. All of a sudden he went into the strangest rant about how many Jack Daniels he had had and how he was once in a drug cartel and he was in the navy and how he doesn’t believe in genocide. After that I didn’t understand much, but both Jill and I were laughing hysterically. He just went on and on and then he pulled out a cigarette. We told him that he couldn’t smoke on the train and he should just get off for a smoke and catch the next train to wherever he was going. We hoped he would follow our advice because at this point he was starting to get annoying with all of his weird made-up stories. He decided this was a good idea and disappeared for a while at a stop, but strangely came back again, this time with a Indian guy who we figured out spoke little English and most likely no Dutch. But this guy sat him down and talked to him all the same. The poor Indian guy just stared at us wide eyed and nodded and shook his head every once in a while. I wasn’t really paying much attention to what the conversation was between them, but at one point the “Turkish” insane/drunk/high/or a combination thereof guy pulled out his ID and handed it to the complete stranger. He left himself completely vulnerable. Then he got bored of the Indian and went to talk to some boorish French people, then disappeared again for awhile. He came back a little while later and we asked him where he was going. He said he had no idea, then proceeded to try to hit on me, got rejected, walked off, and disappeared from our lives. Meanwhile, while this was all happening, the people sitting behind me were dressed in bright green party outfits, including green felt shorts, playing German karnival music, and laughing and drinking, which seemed pretty fitting while all the conundrum with the “Turkish” guy was going on.

I guess you could say it was a pretty wild ride home.

On top of it all, we got home late when we all needed to get up early the next morning. It was my last night of my six-month adventure in Europe. Dave drove me the next morning to the Düsseldorf airport, where I got a little panicky when I was checking my bags and going through security. I was anxious. It was, after all, the first time I had ever  gone through an airport and flown on an airplane by myself. It was hard to sit still and every time someone spoke to me they got annoyed because I needed them to repeat what they said to me many times until I understood. Someone would speak to me and I would do the appropriate thing and look them in the eye and look like was listening but I wouldn’t hear a thing that came out of their mouth. It was like they were mouthing whatever they wanted to communicate to me instead of speaking. This always happened to me when I get worked up and nervous. It happened so many times with this one woman that she even asked, “Do you really speak English?” Story of my life.

Anyway. From Düsseldorf, I went to Amsterdam. I had calmed down quite a bit in the plane, which was good because immigration officers pulled me aside when I went through security in Amsterdam because I had been in Europe longer than I was supposed to be without a visa.. I calmly told them that I had no idea about that law and that it was my first time to Europe. They let me go without reporting me (which would have resulted in me not allowed to go to Europe for 5 years!). I was super lucky.

I bought some lunch and chocolate and found the terminal that would take me to Minneapolis. I couldn’t help but notice how drab looking Minnesotans were compared to anyone else in the airport. I even knew that it was the right terminal before I looked at the sign because Minnesotans are so easy to pick out of an international crowd. Well, for me, anyway. I suppose that is because I grew up there. But still. It humored me.

The plane ride itself was fine. It was better than the one to Germany. The one to Germany was hard because it was an overnight flight and I didn’t sleep one wit. That flight was a daytime one and I had no problem lazing around and reading for 8+ hours without really losing any sleep.

When I finally made my way home, I looked out the window and saw how drab MN looks compared to Amsterdam. Europe is such a beautiful place to live.

My mom came and picked me up and we got Chinese food. It was the first time I had eaten tofu and vegetables in general in 3 months. It tasted great, but I was exhausted and went to sleep that night without a problem.

The next day, I went to visit Blackshire and rode Zorro.

The day after, I was going to surprise Chris by showing up at his front door. I hadn’t told him when I was coming home. Just as I was about to leave, I saw that Chelsea and Chase were walking to the barn to see their mare and Chris was behind them! I couldn’t believe it! I went out and the look on his face was hilarious. I had a great rest of the day with him.

The rest of the week, I went to work at Blackshire and hung out with friends. Noelle came home. Needless to say, it’s been great to be back, though I do miss Germany. Home is different than I remember. I have changed. So has home. Time goes on.

This experience was irreplaceable. I would do it all over again if I could. I’ll go back and visit someday, I’m sure. Till then, I’ll hang around close to home and ride and maybe go to school part time.

And don’t worry, this blog ain’t going nowhere.

This has been a post

Time has flown. It seems like just a few weeks ago that I had walked off the plane and arrived at the Schleypen’s to begin my journey. And somehow it’s almost a month until it’s time for me to go back home. The irony of it all is that I am not so homesick anymore. Of course I miss home but I am content where I am. I’ve discovered that home isn’t just a place but a sense of belonging.

If anyone were to ask if it was all worth it, I would say without hesitation YES! I have learned and gained so much from this experience. One, my riding has improved. I feel more secure in the saddle and have a better understanding of dressage theory. I also have grown as a person living in another country by myself and seeing how other people live. I have a better understanding of how a different corner of the world works. I encourage anyone and everyone to live overseas at least once, no excuses. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how little time there is or how much money you have or how scary it is. Find a way. Get out there and live. Don’t stay too comfortable.

I have, for the most part, been doing the same old things. I ride some pretty awesome horses and as the weather warms I feel myself become lighter in my boots (figuratively and literally--less clothing to wear) and people and horses alike are smiling more. I love that feeling of spring fever. Its as if the world shakes the dust.

Weekend before last I got to participate in something called Carnival. In Germany, especially Düsseldorf and Köln, Carnival is a time where people dress up in weird costumes and go out to party. For the kids, there is a parade.

I went with my friend, Claudia, from the stable and some other people who ride from around the area. Some of the people I met told me they read my blog (Hi!), which was surprising! I saw in my stats that over 70 people read my last post! This blog was intended to keep a public journal of my life in Germany and it’s been great to see how many people read what I write. Anyway...

Of course, I had no costume. I could have gone out in regular clothing but in the spirit of Carnival, I was dressed in a short-skirted sailor dress. I probably looked hilarious, with my white as snow legs, scratches and bruises from getting beaten on by horses, and the front of the dress sagging where big boobs are supposed to be, but I didn’t care.

We set out into the night, off to a barn that was holding a Carnival party. It was somewhat big, and I was glad I was in costume because I would have looked weird if I wasn’t. Everyone was dressed up with a drink or two in hand. There were bees, pirates, hippies, whatever. You name it, it was there. Carnival has a special type of music that they were playing. Its in German very upbeat, and the lyrics are pointless. The music is purely for noise to dance to.

We got some drinks and danced a little bit but some people from our group soon got bored and so we moved to the skiihalle, where the party was packed full of sweaty, stinky, half-drunk bodies. We danced some but soon got tired and went home.

I slept at Claudia’s house and the next day I spent with them at the zoo. I hadn’t been a zoo in awhile, so it was a lot of fun. I felt like a kid all over again, seeing all of the different animals. We even stayed to see the dolphin show. :)

Last weekend was Winterfest, a party for the horseback riders around the area. I got to dress up and dance with friends, as well as meet people from the area. It was a lot of fun!

It’s been a good time here in Germany and I can’t wait until Jill comes (4 weeks)!

Ponies and Adventures

Monday the 6th marks one month I have been working at the new stable. It has been a nice improvement as far as work goes. I have been given a steady flow of 4 or 5 horses a day and Martin gives me a tip or two everyday.

One of Martin’s assistants had a broken foot but it is all healed up now, so last week she returned back to work and it has been easier getting all of the horses done.

The horses I usually ride are named Liechian, Laura, Devine, Emilio, and Sue.

Leichan is a 7 year old bay mare. She knows up to 3rd level and is a nice ride. She has taught me a lot about straightness because she likes to lean on her outside shoulder. Blackshire people--she looks a lot like Luccia. She left on Friday to her new home, however, so I won’t be riding her anymore.

Laura is a pretty 8 year old bay mare that is schooling 4th level movements. She is a jackhammer to sit because of her big gaits and long legs. I get a big abdominal workout whenever I ride her. She also left to her new owner’s so I won’t be riding her anymore, either.

Devine is a 5 year old chestnut mare that only knows 1st level. Her breeder told Martin that she thought Devine was only 3 so we were taking it easy on her by riding her lightly and lounging lots. But we get her papers and it turns out she is 5 years old. This explains why she is far behind in her training. She can be difficult to ride some days because she is heavy in the bridle and likes to go fast; my least favorite combination. She also sometimes decides that she would rather kick at my leg than yield to it. But I feel that she is getting better as I ride her more often and don’t take it so easy on her.

Emilio is a 10 year old bay gelding who knows 4th level. He has problems with his legs so I can’t ride him very hard. The girl who came back to work usually rides him now since he is an easy ride.

My favorite horse to ride is named Sue. She is a 7 year old mare whose sire is Sir Donnerhall. She’s kind of small for a warmblood but beautiful and black with no chrome.  She moves beautifully. Of course, every favorite horse of mine always has a weird thing about them. Her quirk is that she likes to passage. Every time I ask her to do something in the trot, she tries to do it in passage. She’s a blast to ride, though a bit on the crazy side.

Since a lot of the horses I have been regularly riding this past month are going, I will be curious to see what horses I will be able to ride next. I like the new place and I am happy that I changed. It’s been nice to have company, too, at home. The family I live with has been great. They are all such nice people and I can’t thank them enough for their kindness and hospitality.

I have recently gone on many different adventures. I have gone to two stallion shows and they’re interesting to watch. I have learned a lot about bloodlines and what to look for in a stallion. I think about what Dr. Deb Bennett looks for in a horse confirmation-wise and decide what I like and don’t like in a stallion. I find that I am very picky. I know no horse is perfect, but when it comes to breeding, horses need to be as close to perfect as possible.

I was going to help out at a show last weekend but unfortunately it was cancelled because the footing was as hard as concrete it was so cold. It has been colder here than in MN! In the mornings it is usually -8° C, which is about 17° F for you folks back home. It’s cold for this part of Germany. And I dislike it very much.

A shout out to a friend at home who broke her arm sliding off a horse because the girth was loose. Matana, I wish you a speedy recovery and am thinking of you every day.

I want to know who is reading my blog. So if you’d like, comment below with your name and maybe even tell me what I should do to improve my blog or ask me a question. Whatever you want. Even if I don’t know you, introduce yourself!

Well, that’s all I can think of for now. I know I have only been posting about once a month but it’s better than nothing. To tell the truth, I’m not much of a blog writer. I enjoy poetry, which I haven’t been able to do much of lately, either. Horses eat up my whole life.

Anyhow, ciao for now!

On the move again...

Hey there, stranger. Hope you had a great xmas and new year. I certainly did! :) My mom and Noelle came on xmas eve and we hung out and cooked. Then the rest of the week we traveled to nearby cities--Neuss, Dusseldorf, and Köln. All three were a blast to see with them. Dusseldorf was our favorite, though. It has an amazing old town. There were little shops in old buildings. We even went up in one of those sky tower things to see the city from the birds point of view. Köln is bigger, but we didn't like it as much for some reason. Except the cathedral there is amazing. Anyone who likes exploring old churches ought to see that one.

Later that week, it was time to fly out to Madrid for new years. We packed our bags and went onto our journey.

When we arrived to Madrid, my first impression was that it was not a whole lot different than Germany. The buildings and streets looked similar but as we kept walking, differences became stronger. Spain had a different atmosphere. It craved pieces of battiness. For example, you rarely see a German jaywalk whereas in Spain, that’s just what people do. Spanish people are more open and don’t give a rats ass about what others think of them for the most part. In Germany, people are so reserved. I had never seen a place like Spain.

After settling into our hotel, we went for dinner to my mom’s friends house. We ate a large, delicious dinner with all sorts of Spanish food. There were Tapas, Tortilla Española, Manchego cheese, insalada, piscado, etc.. It was a great home cooked meal.

We then set out to get ourselves situated at the Puerto del Sol to celebrate our new year. It was insanely crowded and people were shouting and laughing and spraying everyone with champagne. When the clock struck midnight, we ate 12 grapes and drank champagne straight from the bottle. The crowed whooped and hollered and did the same. Then everyone dispersed to either go home or start partying.

Madrid is also the only place I have been to where is is absolutely okay to drink in public. As in, out on the downtown streets. When we got home at 3:00am the party was far from done. There was still racket outside and people were making their way to their favorite discoteca.

The next couple of days, we explored Madrid’s streets and saw some amazing sights. We went to an outdoor market that happens every Sunday where they sell anything and everything. We got a lot of late xmas gifts there. We also saw the king and queen of Spain’s castle. As you can imagine, that was amazing. Then we saw a great view from in a lift that stretched across the Casa del Campo area of Madrid. It seemed no matter what view you looked at Madrid, it was always beautiful.

And just as we were starting to think about moving to Madrid, it was time to go back to quaint Germany. No parties there. Noelle had to leave the next day so she could get ready for her next trip to Florida. But my mom stayed until the 6th.

In other news, I am no longer at the Schleypen’s. Long story short, I decided to move to a different barn because Reinhard said he didn’t have any horses for me to ride, which is a bummer. I will miss that place but I hope to visit before I go back to the states. So as of Sunday, I have moved into a house of another working student (or Bereiter) of Martin Sander. His stable is just 15 minutes from the Schleypen’s. My first day of work was on Monday and I ended up riding 5 beautiful and talented horses! Martin gave me lots of advice whenever he was nearby. I feel like I can learn a lot at this new barn. The people and atmosphere is very positive, which I like a lot. It’s a bit like Blackshire (but not the same, of course! Nothing could ever replace Blackshire). I like this new place a lot, but I am still very homesick. There is no wireless connection at the house I am living in, which means I have to use their computer. I can’t talk to people as much as I used to and it also means  even less blogging. Sorry! I sure wish I could have more computer time. At least there is only 3 months left.

I haven’t heard much from people back home besides what’s on Facebook. I’ll assume no news is good news. :)

Hasta Mañana!

Late but interesting post

So. Sorry about the big delays between posts. I’m sorta lazy. I’ll make it up to you by making this one longish.

Anyway, Sunday the 4th. I’ll start there. It was quite the sight-seeing adventure. Mr. Held took me to some really cool places. We first went to Königswinter, where there are shallow mountains surrounding the city. On top of one of them is an old castle and Mr. Held and I climbed to it. The original plan was to take the train up there but it was closed and Mr. Held was determined to get up there. So we drove halfway and then hiked up the rest. It wasn’t so bad for me, but Mr. Held is an office man. But he wasn’t going to give up. We reached the top and the castle itself wasn’t impressive, but the view was fantastic. The old European houses nestled comfortably in the land that lay across the Rhein River. It was beautiful.

We then started to climb down the mountain. There was a little restaurant that we decided to get lunch at. Mr. Held ordered me potato pancakes (which is served with applesauce to put on top. sounds weird, but it’s really good!) and French onion soup along with an espresso. It was a great German lunch with a very kind guy. :)

We made our way to our next stop--the Bridge of Remagen. On the way there, we went across the Rhein river via toll boat which is something I had never done before.

We made it to the bridge. It is a beautiful landmark. This is where the Germans and Americans fought during WWII.

Then Mr. Held drove me through gorgeous valleys with grape vines surrounding us. The grapes were being grown for wine. It was an amazing sight. We drove until we found a small Christmas market where all sorts of trinkets and Christmas treats are sold. We walked around but didn’t buy anything. Then we went home.

It was so nice of Mr. Held to take me to see those things. I know I’m in a really special place with very kind people. I will be forever grateful for their generosity.

That week, Wilander went away. He was sold. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. :)

Last weekend I went on a road trip on my own to Frankfurt to see the international horse show. I took the hour and a half train ride and (eventually) found my hotel, which was just across the highway from where the show was being held. I got up the next morning and hurried inside the hall. It was a big indoor arena and decorated in an xmas fashion. I found my seat up in the balcony and watched the first of the Grand Prix tests. I took pictures and video and observed. It was great to see so many amazing horses and riders and muse with the possibility of me being in a ring like that someday...

After the morning session was done, I went and walked around Frankfurt for awhile. I walked for three hours window shopping and being a tourist and eventually settled down at a coffee shop where they had internet to let everyone back at home know that I was still alive. Then I walked back through the big city full of great people watching and shops to the evening portion of the show. I watched some jumping and it made me miss it. That thrill of flying over a jump on a 1000+ pound horse is not something you get in dressage. When I have my own operation going, a big part of my program will be cross training. In dressage, we ask for collection. When a horse launches over a jump, that is one of the most intense ways for a horse to achieve collection.

I also got to watch the young riders. Most every one of them made a mistake, but it was cool to see young people excel at their sport. I was impressed. There was one girl from the US who got 2nd place with a 69%!

The next morning I got to watch the Grand Prix freestyles with a front row seat. They were so amazing to watch and looked like a blast to ride! The music for each horse matched perfectly and the patterns were creative. I want to ride a freestyle so bad, it looks like a lot of fun.

The last rider I got to see was Isabel Werth. Her horse didn’t do great. He spooked and even kicked up his heels during the extended canter. But nonetheless, she got a 75%. The winning horse from Italy, which was also my favorite freestyle, got a 79%.

After that was all done, it was time to go home. The last few days of work I have been exhausted. It snowed for the first time today but only a couple inches.

Noelle and my mom come in 4 DAYS. YAY!

Wilander = :)

The days are so repetitive here. I muck stalls, lounge horses, turn horses in and out, have my lunch break, clean, etc., etc.. But every day I get handed little bits and pieces of trust. After being here for a month and a half, they have let me ride numerous ponies. But all of a sudden, I was climbing onto a horse. Not just any horse, though.
His name is Wilander. I immediately became fond of him a couple weeks ago when I walked into his stall and he greeted me with a smile and a lick. He likes to lick people. He's the color of smoke. He isn't what people would think of what a warmblood looks like; he doesn't have much of a tail and he's not what you'd call elegant because he is very round-looking (kind of like Hollywood) instead of lanky like a warmblood. But when he moves, he floats.
As I climbed on board this amazing horse, I thought maybe they were making a mistake. Maybe in a few minutes, Marion would come in and shout at me to get off her horse. But no. She came in and watched me ride him with a genuine smile. Every once in a while she would give me some advice. But holy crap. I was having the time of my life on that horse.
Unfortunately, Marion got a call in the middle of my ride about someone who wanted to come see him the next day as he is for sale. So Marion rode him for the rest of the time. But it didn't matter. I am so happy that they let me ride such an amazing horse. My thighs still burn from sitting his big trot. Hopefully I'll get to ride him again.
On Sunday, Mr. Held is going to take me sight-seeing along the Rhein river. I'm super excited. I'll make sure to blog about it. :)
16 days until Frankfurt and 23 days until Noelle and my mom come visit me! :D

11/21/2011

I’ve been meaning to blog in the past two weeks but haven’t gotten much of a chance. They are keeping me busy here. The week before last, Katrin was gone, so Peggy and I had to do everything on our own. I worked five horses a day in between turning horses in and out, feeding, sweeping, and getting horses ready for Marion. Last week was almost as busy since then Peggy was gone. Some days I even skipped my lunch break so we could be finished on time.

I have been lounging horses a lot, which I like. And I got to ride two new ponies. They are a blast to ride. Especially compared to naughty pony, who kept switching back and fourth between getting better and getting worse, so Reinhart had her sent home and we admitted defeat. I tried the best I could, but in my opinion, that pony isn’t meant for dressage. She just mentally couldn’t do it. If a horse isn’t willing to do their job but you make them, they will never be happy and able to perform up to your expectations. So I was glad to see her go and I hope she goes somewhere where they understand that.

On Friday evening, a woman who has two horses here asked me if I would like to come with her to another stable where they do vaulting. It sounded interesting, so I said yes. We went and I saw some amazing things. This wasn’t Washington County Festival Under the Stars vaulting. This was the real deal. They once had four people on a horse, stacked up high. The girls were very athletic. The barn was half gym, half horse barn. I guess they are international competitors, which was apparent because they were really impressive. I’m allowed to go anytime, so I will be sure to take pictures next time.

Yesterday was my day off. I decided to bike to the nearest tack store because my gloves are what Mindy would call “ratty”. I got there at 2:15 but it closed at 2:00. So I biked around for awhile trying to figure out if there could be another nearby since I was one on a map but soon gave up and biked to the Rheinpark shopping mall. It was enormous. It had four floors full of shops and the fifth floor was a theater, I think. I didn’t get anything, just people watched, rested, and wandered around. At around 4:30 I got back on my bike and started to make my way home. I passed by some things I remembered passing by on the way there and started to look for signs that pointed to the Skiihalle since the horse farm is right next to it. It’s the easiest way to find my way back home. I looked and looked but I didn’t find one. I biked into deadends, wrong ways, loops, and soon minutes turned into hours and it got dark. I realized I was lost and wasn’t going to be able to get back on my own. I found myself at a truck stop of sorts where there was a McDonalds. I went in and asked the workers if any of them spoke English. They all did, fortunately. They gave me a free coffee and a warm place to sit while they called a taxi. The taxi was barely big enough to fit into the car, but the driver was very nice and the bike and I made it safely back to the farm at 6:30. I looked on Google maps to find out that I had biked 10 miles. Hopefully that won’t happen again...

The weather here is really nice. When I wake up it’s somewhere around the upper 30’s and gets to the 50’s in the afternoon. I’ve been wondering when it’s going to snow. I guess the norm is around Christmas. So not used to this!

This morning was the first time I overslept. I woke up to Katrin calling my name at my apartment door at 7:15. oops. I am so not a morning person. But I made it out in five minutes and everything was fine.

This week, Josef, the stall mucker, is gone. He got a replacement, but he is very lazy. The stalls are still partially dirty and underbedded and he left a whole barn unmucked and the three of us had to stop what we were doing and quickly muck it out.

I recieved my Frankfurt International horse show tickets in the mail. I get to see Totilas! nah nah nah boo boo! ;)

In two days it will be exactly ONE MONTH until Noelle and my mom come to visit me!!! Soooooo beyond excited. :)

11/5/2011

The past few days have been a lot of fun.

On Wednesday, Mr. Schleypen decided to have me ride a new pony who had just come the day before. She is older, around 15, so we all thought she’d be an easy ride. We were so wrong.

I got on her and she immediately took off into a crazy fast walk and I struggled to hold her back. When I picked up the trot she was better but very resistant in her poll. I flexed her and bent her but she wasn’t giving to me at all. Reinhart had Katrin come in and help me. Katrin had me let her go more forward (I was holding her back) and she became a bit softer in the mouth but she was still very stiff I didn’t feel comfortable on her, so my equitation was all over the place. It was a mess. But I felt we had made some progress. The pony was surely one of the hardest horses I had ever ridden. She wasn’t dangerous, just terribly resistant in every way.

The next day Katrin helped me again. Now that I knew what I was up against, I felt more confident but we still didn’t make as much progress as I would have liked. The pony still threw her head in the air and ran away any chance I gave her.

Then yesterday I tried riding outside because it was a nice day but the pony wouldn’t have any of it. So I headed inside where Reinhart was riding. He watched me and I could tell he wanted to help me. There were some other people in the arena who spoke English and he had them translate some but I was still not clear on what he wanted me to do. So finally he showed me. Turns out he speaks English just fine. We were able to work things out with a mixture of English and German and he told me that instead of letting her go forward like Katrin wanted, he wanted me go nice and slow with her. He then had me walk on a circle and leg yield in and out of the circle with lots of flexion until she softened. This seemed like a better solution for the pony.

I’m glad Reinhart is still letting me ride her. Although she is a challenge, I feel like I can fix her with time.

Today was my day off. I slept in and then set out to explore Neuss some more. I biked for 40 minutes until I ran into a big shopping center. It was like an outdoor mall with tons of shops and stands. There was a guy playing an accordion for tips. It was busy and people watching was prime. There were countless clothing shops, cafés, fresh fruit stands, bakeries, and other assorted stores. It was a really neat place.

After wandering around for awhile I noticed it was starting to get dark so I biked home and hung out in my apartment for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, it will be a nice easy Sunday. :)

10/29/2011

This past week has been what you might expect from a working student; mucking, grooming, tacking up horses, turning horses in and out, cleaning tack, sweeping the barns, etc, etc, etc..

BUT. Yesterday I got to clip a horse. I have plenty of experience in body clipping horses, but I’ve never had to worry about whether or not it looked good. This horse hadn’t been clipped before, do he was antsy and I knew they probably didn’t have high expectations because of this, but I wanted to please, of course! :)

So I turned the clippers on and started and all of five minutes into it the clippers stopped shaving. I took the blades apart and put them back together several times with no avail and gave up and let Katrin figure it out. I was then on a roll. Since the horse hadn’t been clipped before I would shut the clippers off every fifteen minutes and give him a break. He was being really good, but the flies bothered him more than anything else and made it hard to clip with him moving around so much. So I guess the breaks were for me, too. I eventually got everything done but the legs and face and by that time the horse was fed up. I don’t blame him. We had been clipping for an hour and the blades were getting hot. But I tried his legs and he kicked my hand twice. Not hard, but still. I have been kicked one too many times to know how terrible it can be. It could escalate and I’d have yet another stitched up hole in me!

So Katrin put a twitch on him and we got the job done without too much fuss. Then I was off to do the rest of my evening routine.

This morning I got up early to go cheer on the Neuss Grefrath Reitclub team at a nearby horseshow! It was a lot of fun. They do a lot of things differently here than in the US, but I expected that. Like, for example, they got their horses ready at the trailers because there was no stalls to put them in. They didn’t wear that weirdo skirts over breeches look you see at Washington County Fairgrounds, but jeans instead. In the warmup ring, everyone goes in one direction at all time (someone asks to change directions if they want to go the other way). Three or four horses show in the arena at once (they all ride the same test and line up single file, except for halts, where they come down the centerline side by side). Even though it was a small show, there was an awards ceremony and they won prizes like saddle pads, polo wraps, and horse treats (jealous!). The levels and patterns are different. And they had a jumping portion of the show that added onto your score, but it was only for people under 21.

Our barn did really well and they all looked spectacular!

We made it back home in time for me to have my lunch. After, I went for another walk around Grefrath. I didn’t feel that I had enough time to go downtown so I stayed close by the barn.

When I got back I made some yummy risotto, watched tv, and talked to Chris and mother until it was time to go to bed. :)

Sonntag

Today was my day off so I slept until 8:30 and then woke up and finished the rest of another novel I was reading (My Name is Memory by Ann Brash, a really thought provoking book). I then made myself some breakfast, showered, cleaned my apartment, watched German television, and with nothing else to do, set out on a journey to explore Neuss.

Neuss, as it turns out, is quite small. It’s mostly made up of houses and apartments, but there were some shops I walked past. There is an aquarium store, a salon, a travel agency, a bar on every corner, a little food stand with candies and snacks, a cafe, a pizza place, and some gift shops. Although none of them were open because it was Sunday, it was good to go for a walk and see what Neuss had to offer, especially since it was particularly good weather for it.

There is also an old, enormous church. I saw that behind it there was a path and I walked onto it to discover a huge graveyard. It was like nothing I had seen before. Every single grave was well kept and beautiful. Even the oldest plots looked as if they had been there for all of a week. They were decorated with fresh flowers, stones, candles (most every one was lit), and vines. It was obvious that people didn’t forget about their loved ones buried deep in the ground. They came back and remembered and continued to take care of them even though they didn’t have to.

I ran into a squirrel while walking around the graveyard. He was a big red one, who climbed up a tree to my eye height and just sat there and stared at me. I stared back until he decided to go on his way up to his palace in the treetops. As he made his way up, I couldn’t help but smile because his grunts sounded like they were in a German accent.

I slowly made my way back to the stables, where I went back to my apartment and thought about what else a person could do on their day off in a foreign country. There wasn’t enough time to walk myself to Dusseldorf and back, so I decided that that was for next weekend. And it wasn’t time to start making myself dinner yet. So I went and talked to Jess and mother! Hooray. :)

Freitag und Samstag

Yesterday was normal except for two things. One, I got horses ready for Marion. Two, after work I went to a party with all of the girls from the barn. We went to one of their houses. Of course, they spoke exclusively in German, but I still was able to catch a drift every once in a while about what they were talking about. The food was quiche...with pork in it. And some sort of potato cake...with bacon in it. *sigh* So I was served streusel. And to drink? Wine and shots. Lol. I didn't have any, nor do I ever want to. The party was still fun though and I got to know some of the people I see on a daily basis better.
This morning I did my normal morning routine. Peggy has the weekend off so I volunteered to muck out mine and her barn, which is eight stalls. I thought maybe good karma would come around...
Turns out I was right! I tacked up Angelina and entered the arena, where Marion was riding. As I warmed up, all of a sudden a voice, in English, came across the arena, yelling at me to make my hands vertical. Little did I know it was the start of my first lesson. It turned out to be mostly on my equitation, which is good, because I admittedly do have poor equitation at times. Some things I need to work on include keeping my hands vertical, my legs underneath me, half halting with my seat more, and looking in between the horse's ears and not down to the inside. Marion was hard on me, but that's good. Those are all things that need to be fixed quickly.
We did lots of transitions. This place is obsessed with them. Why? Because not only does it keep your horse light on your aids, it shifts their weight onto their hindquarters and builds their abs. A horses abs are what make a horse lift their back. All good things. We never went around the arena once without doing some sort of transition, whether it was in-gait, trot to walk and back up, or a lateral movement. It kept Angelina thinking and building muscles. By the end of the lesson, she was rounder in her back and fluid and my eq improved. Hooray!
Then I did some other silly things, like mess around with enormous bags of carrots. Did I mention that they feed a bucketful of carrots as a meal?! Yeah. Pretty weird. It makes me giggle every time I think about it. :) Also, since we're on the subject, they normally feel hay once a day, but some horses are exceptions, and the grain looks like a mixture of cereal, some sort of mash, oats, and pelleted feed.
Afterwords I went for lunch where I ate more soup. I'm eating a crapload of soup lately. At least it's all yummy soup. And German bread is super yummy. You can buy fresh breads at the grocery store. They make it right there. So I ate all of that, sat there and felt awesome, and had a long lunch since it's Saturday. Wootage.
Then the rest of the day was pretty normal. But it was awesome. :)

The past few days

Monday and Tuesday were pretty much normal. On Wednesday I got to lounge more horses, which was fun. And today I had a broom fight with the cobwebs again. I had an especially good ride on Angelina. Whoopdedoo. :)

I’ve been watching lessons as much as possible. I learn so much just by simply watching. Although I haven’t had a lesson yet, I feel that that is okay if I get to watch other people ride. There are some amazing horse/rider combos here. I wish you guys could see! (sorry for the lack of pictures, by the way. I feel like a creeper walking around with a camera.)

I’ve realized this past week how much the people back at home mean to me. I love you all and I miss you like crazy....but I’m keeping a positive attitude and I can’t wait to see you all again!

May the force be with you. ;)

Lazy day Sunday.

Today was my day off so I turned my alarm off last night and let myself catch up on some sleep. I woke up at noon and read the end of my novel I was almost done with (Ape House by Sara Gruen--I highly recommend it). I decided I would take it easy and save the exploring for Neuss for a different day.

I made myself some brunch--scrambled eggs and potatoes o’ Brian, and then got dressed and walked around for awhile before chatting with some of my favorite people online. Then I went back to my apartment to eat and then started another book :)

Ahh, sometimes I love lazy days. :)

Saturday!

Katrin left for the weekend for a wedding so the two other workers and I are on our own. I knew today might be difficult with no one who speaks fluent English, but I felt that I had more energy and was able to muck three double stalls and three normal sized stalls, re-bed, and groom eight horses in a matter of two hours. In the past days it has normally taken me an hour extra.

But of course, there was another incident while cleaning out the fillies stall. That one really doesn’t like me and shows it. I was putting new straw into the stall. They use big square bales that have big flakes I’m not used to pushing around so I lose my balance a lot. While pushing it into the stall, I tripped, fell onto my hands and knees, and watched with horror across the stall as that filly pinned her ears at me, turned around, and let a back hoof fly in my general direction.

I tried to scramble up to avoid it, but it was too late. She made contact with my collarbone, which was lucky because it was originally going towards my head. I got up and smacked her and she gave me a nasty look and went to the corner of the stall. I had a swearing fit but eventually calmed down and finished up the barn. I walked away with a hoof shaped bruise and ego.

Since I had finished so quickly, I got an hour long break and then went out to sweep up around the stables. I had my lunch break and then went out to ride Angelina. It was a lot of fun. There were a bunch of people watching someone else ride (probably a horse for sale) and I got a bunch of complements on my riding! Pretty neat, if I don’t say so myself. I was beginning to wonder what people thought of the silly American girl’s riding.  I know I’m pretty good, but compared to other German riders, I had no idea how good. There isn’t a single bad rider at my barn.

I untacked Angelina and went to change into normal clothes so I could run to the grocery store to get some food. I got ingredients for curry to make that night as well as some sweets and other assorted items.

I guess weekends are short and easy days so I retired to my room for the rest of the night to talk to my lovlies. :)

Day one!

I woke up at 5:30 am so I could be ready to work at 7:00. Katrin showed me a barn where there was a couple of yearlings and a mare in foal and she had me groom them and muck the stalls. While I finished the mare’s stall, Katrin showed up with a horse and put him on a horse treadmill I hadn’t noticed. It is a very strange contraption but all of the horses they put on it didn’t seem to mind. They all had to walk on the treadmill for 25 minutes.

I groomed some more horses and was starting to think that that was all I was going to do when Katrin told me that I was to ride a horse! She was a big, sweet six year old mare named Angelina. It had been almost a week since I had ridden a horse so I made a lot of mistakes, but it made me a whole lot less homesick.

They do a lot of weird things here that will take a long time to get used to. I have to pick the horse’s hooves before they even step out of the stall and people also pick all of the hooves on one side of the horse. You always have to apply hoof balm and Vaseline to their nose when grooming. Horses get turned out for an hour, either longed or walked on the treadmill, and ridden. Cleaning absolutely everything after you use it, which I hate.

I was served lunch by Marion’s mother, but I couldn’t eat it because I saw it had pork on top of it. I had the realization that as a vegetarian, I would unintentionally be on a diet while here. I knew this already, but my stomach ached as I had not had a full meal since Monday. Eating hasn’t been a priority lately.

After lunch I had to clean out all of the automatic waterers, so I met all of the horses in the barns. Then I chatted with my mom and Chris and the day was finally over.

Day three (on time)

My alarm woke me up at 5:30 but I ended up missing the snooze button and luckily woke back up at 6:30. Good thing I didn’t have a whole lot to do!

I did the same stuff as yesterday. Starting to see a pattern here, which I like. I’m not a huge fan of my morning routine up until I ride Angelina, but that’s okay.

Lunch today was sautéed green beans and potatoes, tomato soup, and some sort of yummy custard thing. :)

Then I went out and lounged the same horse as yesterday. We’re coming to an understanding as far as voice commands go.

After, we washed windows and I saw something weird out of the corner of my eye...it was a car...pulling a two horse trailer with a horse in it! What the??

I sweeped up all of the barns and then went to talk to Topher. :)

Day two (a day late)

I woke up at 6:00 today to see if I could get away with an extra half hour of sleep, which it was. I dressed and ate some toast and headed out to find Katrin.

She first had me groom horses again, which I didn’t mind too much. I know I will be doing a lot of it, so I figure I better enjoy it. I then went back to the barn where the yearling fillies and pregnant mare were kept. I mucked and groomed them, meanwhile watching the horses on the treadmill. One of the enormous jumpers was on it and she would occasionally get sleepy and start to fall over, which terrified me. Then one time she fell hard and started to come off the contraption. I braced for an accident, but the treadmill stopped. It has a safety mechanism, thank god.

While watching all of this and putting fresh bedding in the babies stall, one of them noticed that I had left open the door just enough to sneak through. She leapt out and started to trot out of the barn, but luckily the other filly screamed for her to come back, so she did. I put my arm around her nose and Peggy, one of the workers, came to my rescue. She threw me a halter and I led the crazed filly back into her stall.

I finished up in that barn and then did more grooming. I then helped Peggy turn a horse out. This is when I found out there are more fields across the street. Taking horses across a street daily that has no speed limit seemed dangerous, but the people at this barn do not take so many precautions as I do. They leave horses “ground tied” for minutes and pick feet in a way where you’re asking to get kicked. They like to turn horses out with boots, which I find weird. About a quarter of the people I have met wear helmets. Their number one concern isn’t safety, it’s cleanliness.

I rode Angelina again and I was better but I still didn’t feel at my best. My jet lag was still effecting me. After, I had the privilege of sweeping down cobwebs in the barns and almost getting killed several times after scaring the shit out of the horses. I tried to calm them down but they don’t listen to me much since I don’t speak a language they understand.

I was actually able to eat lunch today. It was peas and carrots and something like potatoes au gratin. Yum! My first full meal in awhile. :)

Then I got to lounge a horse, which turned out to be somewhat of a challenge. Voice commands are a bit different but it was fun nonetheless.

Katrin took me to the grocery store to get some more food and I also ended up buying an internet stick. Hopefully it works.

The Pony Express is on the move!

WARNING: May be boring at times. Just writing what comes to me. It is my blog, after all.

I left my house at 3:30 and said goodbye to my animals. Nuzzled Jack one last time and we we were off to pick up Raf in Savage and then to the airport. We arrived on time and my mom park her truck where she wasn’t supposed to and helped us into the baggage check in. We quickly said goodbye and she ran to the truck to find some police officers looking on the from of the truck for a hook-up to tow it away.  They were in a good mood that day, however, and let her go without a problem.

We went through security and soon after that I discovered that Raf is quite the shopper. He especially likes those classy perfume stores that reek ten miles away. You know, the ones you’d never catch me dead in.

After that silly shopping, we went food hunting. Raf got asian and I found out how unvegetarian-friendly airports were. So I got a measly cup of fruit and we boarded the plane. We had great seats with no one in front of us. The captain informed us that the flight was running early and soon after that we took off for our 7.5 hour trip across the ocean. Raf’s video-thinger didn’t work so we switched seats since I just wanted to read. It was my lucky day in terms of airplane food as it was nasty pasta with not-so-green salad. We went up to the Southern tip of Greenland and then came back down. The screens in front of us showed some random facts about our flight and I remember looking at the temperature when we reached Greenland and thinking that I had gone insane. It read, I kid you not, -70 degrees F.

I fell asleep sometime after Greenland but woke up an hour later, groggy. There was about two hours left of the flight and it went by somewhat quickly.

The Amsterdam airport was colorful and trying really hard to be hip. Most of the ads were in English, to my surprise. Raf, having gone 8 or so hours without a smoke, quickly retreated into a smoking room, which were scattered throughout the airport. Never had I seen such a culture where smoking was so important. The rooms were heavily fogged from the nicotine. Although I had been previously warned of these rooms existence's, I was still surprised. And for whatever reason, I had suspected that the people would be a lot different than in Minneapolis. Wrong. I saw that they were just regular old people who had lived different lives in a different culture. They were too human. This made me feel better.

Raf, of course, wanted to do more shopping in classy makup/perfume stores. I looked like such a hag after such a long flight, sitting and worrying about what was to happen next. My face was pale and my skin was dry and my clothes weren’t appropriate. Blahblahblah.

The securtity at this airport was a whole lot easier. I started to strip my clothes off and the woman who was assisting people glanced at my passport and quickly understood what I was doing. She told me that I didn’t need to take my belt, shoes, or anything metal off like I did at the Minneapolis airport. I went into the contraption that scanned me and I was out in no time.

We got onto a bus that took us back on another plane, but this time it was only a thirty minute flight. Since this plane was much smaller, this pilot took the liberty of making sharp turns, going up and down and up and down, and making me feel like I was gonna puke.

We got out of the Dusseldorf airport as soon as we could and waited for the cab that took us to Raf’s super deluxe car. It did all sorts of fancy cool stuff but I don’t really remember what it was cuz I was too busy gawking at my new scenery, which, to my disappointment, wasn’t much different than Minnesota at all.

We arrived at the barn I am to work at for six months. It is truly a very impressive place. It’s all brick with lots of nice arenas and the people are kind. My apartment is huge with a living room, two tv’s with satellite, a bathroom, a bedroom, a kitchen, and stairs so steep and slippery that I’m afraid I’m going to break my neck on them. The horses were, of course, gorgeous. Tall and athletic and effortlessly floated. 

I also watched Reinhart coach some 7-12 year old girls on their obedient ponies in German. Then I wondered around like a fool until the other working student, Katrin, took me to the grocery store.

Marion’s mom came with and she speaks zero english. This made shopping difficult. Katrin told me that I could get anything I wanted, no limits, and I chose some things while Marion’s mother chatted at me about how I should have gotten “this” or “that” instead while Katrin babbled back to her in German as I awkwardly stood there and looked like an American.

We went back to the barn and I found out that the internet in my apartment doesn’t work, which is why this update is so late. I had to go steal Katrin’s internet. She was super nice and said that if I ever feel homesick, need help, internet, or just simply need to talk to someone, she is always there. I felt somewhat relieved. She will be a huge help.

Tomorrow is my first day of work. I have to get up at 5:30 so I’m ready by 7:00. Then my day ends at 7:00pm. Looooooooong day. So far I have mixed feelings about this place, so we’ll see. I am terribly homesick and lonely at times, but it will pass.

OPULENCE. I has it. ;)

I leave for the airport in 1.5 hours.

I have to keep reminding myself to breathe. No, it's not for myself. I know I'll be fine and have a great time . But the fact that I will be away from the people I love is what makes me cry. It's what the pit in my stomach is fretting about. I want somebody to actually jump into my suitcase so I won't feel quite so lonely.

Okay, maybe it is a little selfish. But comn', can you blame me?

I said goodbye to everyone last night and each time someone left, we exchanged a sob or two.
Six months isn't that long, but right now it feels like an eternity.
I will for sure put this blog to use now.
I love you all and miss you already. <3
Bye for now.

All you need is horses.

6 days left. I couldn't be any more excited. :)
I already miss you all but I'm ready to go have the time of my life. I'm going to try my hardest to be the best horsewoman I can be and there's nothing stopping me. I will make sure to update this blog a lot more than I have been (even though I'm not so great at it). And thanks to modern technology, I can talk to you guys free through Skype. Feel free to chat me up! My username is ginger.coleman3.
I hope (and know) that this journey will gain me a huge leg-up in my career with horses. I can't wait to see where life leads me.